


Hearts Meet

by Ryo Hoshi (Hoshi_Ryo)



Series: Till Worlds End [3]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Bad Decisions, First Meetings, Gen, Pale Romance | Moirallegiance, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-23
Updated: 2014-08-23
Packaged: 2018-02-14 08:32:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2184924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hoshi_Ryo/pseuds/Ryo%20Hoshi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dirk Strider sets out to acquire a troll partner, though his plan proves to have its flaws...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hearts Meet

Dirk Strider had been warned by his elder brother that names, at least personal names, were poor indicators of a troll’s sex.  This had been followed up by Rose explaining (with awkward as fuck figures provided by her troll) that trolls had gender more than sex, which was why there was such a taboo about human guys going for _any_ troll since about the only difference was tits. 

It had gone into how apparently tits were some sort of dominance signal before Dirk managed to escape the dual Light terrors. 

Dirk’s personal opinion of tits was mixed.  He was more sure about liking plush rumps and muscles, and it been a mix of awkward and enlightening when Rose decided her younger relatives totally needed the version of the Talk that covered all the options. 

He kinda had to admit that was probably true about Roxy.  Girl might say she was straight, and he had caught her checking out Jake’s equipment when he was hitting werewolf puberty, but he had not missed her crush on Callie either. 

(He thought Jake’s ass was more of a feature to be drawn to, though, especially when Jake had just shifted and the only thing hiding anything back there was the natural drape of his fluffy tail.  He and Roxy had enough experience with Jade and Jake to know weres did _not_ get modesty.) 

Still, he knew a grand total of three things about the troll he was there to catch: the troll's name was Nepeta, the troll was feral, and the troll possessed Heart.  Feral trolls were definitely dangerous, and certainly not an easy thing to catch, but Dirk was expecting his second-hand experience and their commonalities to make it easier. 

Of course, he did not tell his Bro of his plans, rightfully figuring that his Bro would outright block him, even if it required he enlist Rose's aid to enforce Dirk's grounding. 

The problem was, however, that Dirk had grossly overestimated just how ready he was to do something like this, especially on his own. 

He had not, for example, done all the research he actually needed to do: Nepeta was not the only feral troll known to be roaming this particular territory.  The search he had done of the database, sneaking on with Roxy’s help when the adults were not looking, had only been for potential troll partners close enough to slip out and contract them before the adults could stop him. 

Dirk had instead learned through horrible experience why ‘civilian grade’ prosthetics were a thing as he was stuck between a golden-furred troll in bear form Dooming at the general area and a purple troll in salamander form Raging with equal abandon. 

He would insist that the slipped joint was the only thing that had kept him from running and taking a chance on the two trolls being unable to agree that they could continue their fight after catching him, but none of his screwed-up family would believe him.  The truth was, he could have easily popped it into place, a move he had done before in front of them before, and made some distance before it inevitably slipped again.  A more long-term fix would require tools he kept in his workbench, or finally giving in and letting his Bro pay for him to upgrade to a milspec leg. 

(Dirk did, when he made it out.  He appreciated more their value.) 

It was with a feline roar and a _thumk_ of flesh hitting flesh that the Rage snapped off. 

Dirk shifted carefully, not wanting to draw the other troll’s attention to him as he looked over to see a huge olive-furred Saber-toothed cat letting go of the salamander’s neck, leaving the purpleblood to finish dying while eying the goldblooded troll. 

The goldblood troll stopped scattering Doom at everything, body language nervous and hesitant as the oliveblood troll watched, waiting for the right moment… 

The fight lasted moments, in favor of the oliveblood, and Dirk watched nervous as the troll approached him. 

His Bro and Rose had always been clear that feral trolls were dangerous, and Dirk knew this one was more dangerous than the two who had cornered him earlier. 

He was never going to admit that he had expected to die as the troll’s nose touched his. 

The troll spoke to him, Heart to Heart. 

_Hello!_

Dirk watched, in what he would deny was shock, as the Saber-tooth shifted, folding in and changing shape into the form of a definitely female troll.


End file.
